4G/5G/GSM/WiFi Omnidirectional Whip Antenna, 698-3800 MHz, 7 dBi

SatShop.fi estimate for actual gain of this antenna: About 3-5 dBi.

Selecting antenna type

There are 2 types of antennas: directional antennas and omnidirectional antennas. If you are located far away from a mobile mast, we recommend to use a long Yagi type antenna or an antenna with satellite dish as high as possible. So that there wouldn't be much obstacles between the antenna and the mobile mast. Long Yagi antenna and an antenna with satellite dish gives you a strong signal from a very exact direction. The further away the mobile mast and the higher the hills in between, the higher the antenna should be located. Obstacles deteriorate and reflect signal which means that the signal isn't coming from just one direction. That is why long Yagi antennas do not cope as well with obstacles and a short Yagi antenna or a panel antenna. Short Yagi antenna and panel antenna are good solutions in the countryside when mobile mast is a medium distance away, there are some obstacles on the way and especially if there are also other mobile masts in about the same direction. In urban environment there are mobile masts in different directions and there are a lot of reflections from buildings. Also the large number of users may cause that you can not connect to a particular mobile mast at all times. Therefore an omnidirectional antenna is the best solution in urban environment.

Direction

See nearest mobile masts, so that you'll know where you should point your antenna to:
Sonera & Tele Finland map
Elisa & Saunalahti map
DNA map
You can ask your operator in which directions are the mobile masts for best connection types. Best connection types are in this order: LTE/4G, dual carrier 3G (Elisa Saunalahti calls it 4G) and 3G. Also ask on which frequency is this connection type, so that you can choose the best antenna for you. Especially the 800MHz LTE coverage is expanding every day so now it's possible to get LTE connection from much further away than before with higher frequencies.

Antenna placement and installation

For strongest possible signal you need to position the antenna over your roof level as high as possible to a mast and by mounting the mast on a wall with a mast mount. This is also the recommendation of the manufacturers. Many people install the antenna on a wall with a wall mount or on a balcony with a balcony mount. A panel antenna or an omnidirectional antenna you can install even indoors by a window. More powerful models only have a mast mount. Those too can be installed indoors by a window with a table mount.

1 antenna, 2 antennas or a MIMO cross polarized antenna?

MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) cross polarized antenna has 2 built-in antennas and offers better speed, range and reliability compared to just 1 antenna. The speed boost of a MIMO cross polarized antenna is biggest for LTE connections. Signals are separated from each other by changing the polarization; one signal is vertical and the other horizontal polarized to keep their mutual interference at a minimum. Cross polarized MIMO antenna includes 2 antennas and hence doesn't take as much space as 2 separate antennas. You can also make a cross polarized system out of 2 separate antennas that are in positions that differ 90 degrees (horizontal and vertical). You can also do it with a 45 degree skew from vertical position to left and right sides. Your modem must have 2 antenna connections (for example D-link DWR-921, Huawei B593, Huawei E392 and TeleWell TW-LTE) so that you can use a MIMO antenna or 2 separate antennas.

Antenna gain (dBi)

3 dBi gain means 0,5 x longer range. See pictures for better understanding the effect. Please note that the gain (dBi) is given by the manufacturer and the gains of different antennas might not be comparable with each other. The size of the antennas must be increased exponentially, in order to obtain more gain. For example increasing the gain of Yagi antenna from a very high 18 dBi gain further up would require an enormous size. Sometimes antennas are marketed with eg. 24dBi or 28dBi gain in mobile frequencies. At these frequencies, the antenna with such gain would have to be enormous. And because these antennas are not anywhere near huge enough, the dBi promises are contrary to the laws of physics. So over 20dBi gains are simply not true.

Cables

You can choose a suitable length cable above. If 1 cable would not be enough, you can also choose an extension cable. There are many level cables available. Please see the table below for the attenuation (signal loss) in dB/meter on different frequencies and diameter of different cables. The lower the attenuation, the stronger the signal you will get. HDF, LMR and CFD cables have the same specifications for same number cables (eg. HDF-200<=>LMR-200<=>CFD-200). The bigger the diameter, the less flexible the cable is. Bending cable in a small angle will result in a damage to the cable.